


How Do You Know It's Him?

by Mysti_Fogg



Series: Classics of Mass Effect [2]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy, The Usual Suspects (1995)
Genre: Characters Watching Movies, F/M, International Fanworks Day 2019, Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2, Mindscrew, Pre-Mass Effect 1, SSV Normandy SR-1, Spacer (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-21 07:31:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17638475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysti_Fogg/pseuds/Mysti_Fogg
Summary: "Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects." Louis Renault,Casablanca, 1942.Three times Shepard watchedThe Usual Suspectsand why the answer is obvious.





	How Do You Know It's Him?

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for a nearly 24 year-old movie. 
> 
> Really, if you like mindscrews, watch the movie first.

A fire burns on the deck of a metal ship, illuminating a man propped awkwardly against coils of rope. He strikes a match that he uses to set his entire matchbook ablaze. The man looks rough: Sweaty and beaten, a single curl of black hair droops over his forehead as he leans down to light what must be his last cigarette.

His name is Keaton. He'd started out the leader of five men, each with a debt to a crime lord with an improbable name: Keyser Söze. Each caught. Each framed. Each offered a single way out: Get a package off this boat.

He hadn't wanted to be the leader. He hadn't wanted to commit a crime at all. He was trying to go straight and marry his devoted girlfriend, Edie. But every move he made to escape only sunk him deeper into the quagmire of threats and guilt and obligation until the last reason for not doing the crime -- the lovely and innocent Edie -- was hostage to its success. And so, at last, he stopped struggling in his snare and led the squad to its doom.

He throws the lit matches onto a trickle of gasoline, prepared to watch the world burn.

Fenster was killed for trying to flee. Apparently Keyser couldn't control him as easily as he'd thought. They'd found his lanky body on the beach a few days earlier. His lover, McManus, always short tempered, was beside himself with grief and rage. 

And then there were four.

But it didn't matter.

They couldn't run. Keyser Söze was nowhere and everywhere. They couldn't kill a phantom no one had ever seen. The only option was to do the job. 

Hockney handled everything mechanical from the equipment to the van. He should have come to help by now. Or he should have driven off alone if he intended to betray them. Instead, the van sat silent, open, and waiting. Hockney was clearly dead.

And then there were three.

McManus's rage turned from fiery to ice cold. He'd taken a direct route down into the depths of the ship as it tugged against its moorings. He shot every person he saw with the accuracy of a sniper. But when he and Keaton had cleared the whole ship, it was clear the package wasn't there. They made their separate ways back to the top, searching again. The package was the only thing that would get them out of this nightmare. 

When McManus reappeared, swaying gently with the rhythm of the ship, it was clear something was wrong. He was peaceful. _"Something is very strange,"_ he said before pitching forward to reveal a screwdriver driven through the back of his skull.

And then there were two.

Verbal, small, squirrelly, and crippled, was always the odd man out. Now he is certain to be hidden. Keaton can not depend on his help. If he does pop up, he'll surely be swiftly cut down.

And so, there is one.

When Keaton, the mastermind, this leader of men who never wanted to lead, stood staring at the carnage and death around him, trying to put the puzzle pieces together, a bullet sliced through his spine. He landed in a heap, out of ammo and out of time. He could play dead and pray that Keyser Söze's black form passed him by, but what would be the point? Keyser Söze would have every avenue of escape covered. 

The flames streak along the trail of gas, back to a bullet-riddled collection of canisters. The only slim chance Keaton has is that Söze didn't plan for this.

The black death urinates on what little hope he has left, quenching the flames. It's alright. Keaton has already accepted the end as the shadow slowly stalks toward him and he sees --

#

The old-fashioned vid stops. Shepard scrunches up her face, annoyed at being deprived of the story now that the film has hit the point where it began. "Why did you do that?" She reaches for the remote.

Dr. Nefertari Henshaw's plush black hand holds it firmly. "Tell me who did it," she says with a clinical calm that matches the sterile white room and couch.

"Why?" asks the nine-year-old looking down at the black tile floor. It shines in the glow from the screen like the dark, rippling water around the boat.

"I want to know if you can figure it out."

She frowns up at the doctor. "What's to figure out? It was Verbal Kint. Do the police catch him or not?"

Dr. Nef looks over her glasses at the red-haired child. "Why do you think that?"

"Because he did. Can I see the end now?"

"Explain it to me."

"Explain what?"

The psychologist sighs, glancing between one of the greatest cinematic mindscrews and the child. "How do you know it's him?"

The little girl remembers the sounds of birds and bells. Is that what it's really like to be on water? She wants to hear them again. "Because he's the only one who could." She bounces eagerly on her toes. "Can we please see the end now?"

#

On screen, McManus shoots through the ship on a suicidal mission to avenge his dead lover. Flame and blood and steam reflect in Shepard's eyes as she rests her head against Josh's bulky bicep. The movie still fascinates her. She knows it isn't real, that all the violence is cinematic and excessive. She knows that no three men should survive so long to run an assault like this. 

Most three men couldn't.

Maybe an N7 could.

A hand lands on her breast as Keaton lights his match, prepared to set his world on fire. She knew this was coming. She brushes Josh's hand away as she pauses the vid. "Who did it?"

"What, babe?" Josh flexes for her, showing off rippling muscles and squad tattoos in the glow of the screen. The hotel room holds the smell of sweat and sex after a weekend of leave spent together.

"Who is Keyser Söze?" she demands.

"Ummm... what?"

"Keyser Söze. In the show. Didn't you pay any attention at all?"

"Uh..." Josh's eyes flick over the frozen picture on the screen as if a bit of grey railing will answer the question. "He's the killer, right?"

Shepard sighs. Why can no one else see the obvious answer? "Right." She hits play.

"You know, you'd never have to be afraid of killers like that with me." He grins and squeezes her tight.

"I know. " She knows that it's an honor that she's been selected for N7 training. She knows that Josh has not even though he's stronger and has been commissioned longer. She knows that in a fight, she'd win.

On screen, Keaton looks up at death and chuckles at his own blindness. _"I can't feel my legs. Keyser."_

The hand lands on her breast again. "I can make sure you don't feel your legs for a very, very long time," says Josh.

Shepard's mouth narrows in annoyance. When she looks over at her boyfriend, there is no recognition of her sour face.

He's a smug, cocky bastard. She generally likes that. It means he's not afraid of her and doesn't back down. But he ignores the details that are right in front of him. He doesn't know when he _should_ back down.

Flames race along the deck as Keyser reignites the gasoline.

Shepard rolls on top of Josh and pins his wrists. "Just try." The bed creaks as she begins to shift her hips.

Behind her, the boat explodes.

In the morning, she's gone.

#

Bang!

Keaton spins, knocked over by the force of the bullet, landing against some coils of rope. A man in a fedora and trench coat stands on the deck above him with a smoking gun. 

Shepard hits pause. "So, who did it?"

The storage room is quiet in the flickering light. 

Then Wrex snorts. "Keyser Söze," he says, and turns back to polishing his shotgun.

"Gee, Skipper," says Ashley, seated on the nose of the Mako, "There's not a lot to go on."

"Sure there is," The turian resting against a tire protests. 

Liara peeks out from behind her blue fingers at the pointed gun. "There are not many people left alive."

"Yes," says Garrus. "That makes it easier."

Tali taps a finger against her helmet, brushing against Liara. "I think it was the detective."

"Kujan?" asks Shepard.

"Who?"

"The guy doing the interrogation?"

"No, the other guy. He appears out of nowhere, trying to get a statement from the last witness."

"Baer? The black guy who gets dressed up in the sterile clothing to see the burn victim?"

"Yes. He goes to a lot of trouble to tie up all of the loose ends, " says Tali, leaning back against the support beam. "He's trying too hard."

"No, I know who it is." Kaidan pushes himself off the floor. "It's Edie."

Shepard holds to her poker face as the handsome marine swaggers closer to her. "Oh?"

Ashley hops down from her perch behind Shepard. "You're really going to blame this on the girlfriend, LT?"

"Why not?" asks Kaidan. "She had Keaton wrapped around her finger. She had pull with the police department to get them arrested. _Annnnnnd_ she mysteriously arrived in LA just in time to coordinate the strike on the boat." He smirks at Shepard.

She can't help smiling back. Oh, he's wrong. He's soooo wrong. But at least he pays attention. Kaidan has been trying hard to ... well ... she's not sure if he's working up to asking her out or asking her to bed, but it's still been a cute performance to watch. And it's been a while since anyone asked her to either. 

"Hmmmm..." says Ash. "You know, you're right. And besides, she's the only woman in the show, and Shepard did pick the movie."

Shepard turns away, not wanting to give away her game. "Final call: What do the actual researcher and detective think?"

"I...I ... don't know," says Liara. "Keyser Söze is a legend and it's always hard to know how much of a legend is true. How important is storytelling to a culture? How important is truthfulness? I ... I guess Keyser Söze did it, but he might just be a name for smoke in the wind... Keaton? Maybe it was Keaton after all."

Garrus sighs. "You're all wrong. It was Verbal Kint."

The sound of rags on metal stops as Wrex cocks his head at the turian. "The crippled guy? Ha! When Joker runs this ship!"

Tali turns to Garrus. "I don't see how he could do it. He was running away."

"He _said_ he was running away. Everything we've seen aside from the interrogation scenes is his story." Garrus sticks out his hands to count out points. "We have outside corroboration that this group was arrested together, and we know that they pulled off the jewelry heist, and that they decided to raid the boat. And that they picked up a guy calling himself Verbal Kint."

"So?" asks Ashley.

"If his story is true, then no one could have done it but him up to the end confrontation and if his story is false he definitely did it because he was the on the scene with the gun."

Kaidan huffs. "That's hardly proof. Edie could have been tricking Keaton the whole time. She could have done it. Or it could be Keyser Söze."

"Alright," says Garrus rising to the challenge. "I'm no expert on humans, but those guys didn't look very similar to me. They certainly didn't sound similar when the cops put them in a line up for identification. They have entirely different MOs. They shouldn't have been brought in on the same charge."

"Ha," says Wrex. "Cops make things up all the time. There's nothing surprising in it. The answer is a fat bribe."

"A very fat bribe," agrees Garrus. "Like the instigator said, 'You don't put five guys like that in a room together.' It goes badly. But even among those five guys, Verbal was the one who didn't belong. He's supposed to be a small-time conman, yet he's the one who suggests working together on a violent crime. And when Keaton tries to escape the set up, Verbal is the one who shows up at his place to plead with him to do the job."

Kaidan puffs himself up, thinking he's caught the turian. "That's if he's telling the truth. Aren't you arguing that he's a liar?"

"There has to be a truth in the center of lies or the liar gets confused and it all falls apart. If he's lying about his actions, then he can easily be lying about everything and is guilty. If he's telling the truth about his actions, then he orchestrated everything and is guilty. It doesn't matter which way you look at it, the result is the same." Garrus widens his mandibles. "The same logic applies at the end: Verbal is the only other person on the boat that night. Verbal set them all up by making a small change here, and another change there, keeping them all on track and making it seem like their own ideas. It's obvious."

Shepard smirks and hits play. Kujan lights into Verbal, demanding if it wasn't actually Keaton all along. The chief detective makes Verbal crumble under interrogation. Keaton is Keyser Söze.

"Typical short-sighted crap," grumbles Garrus.

There are sounds of vindication and disappointment from the others. Shepard ignores them, watching Garrus as the movie continues.

Verbal picks up his belongings from the station. Detective Kujan gets the fax showing Verbal Kint was identified as Keyser Söze. The coffee cup drops.

A little light of satisfaction comes into Garrus's eye.

"You need more conviction in your instincts, Vakarian," says Shepard with a smile. No one ever gets it.

"Hard thing to have when your coworkers don't believe in you." There are clearly reasons he left his job with Citadel Security.

"You've convinced me now. I believe in you."

Garrus makes flustered motions with his hands. "Thank you, commander."

"Shepard. Call me Shepard." She smiles. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

#

Flames lick along the floors. The ship is on fire. Circuits fizz and explode.

Shepard always liked Hockney. 

Fenster was there to die: Part of the writer's plot to make the danger real; part of Keyser's plot to keep the crew in line. He was entertaining while he lasted, but motivations aligned to make him a small cog in a bigger machine.

Keaton was clearly cast to appeal to women who might watch a brutally violent action flick to appease their lovers. He was sensitive and had a romantic side. He was never quite a badass and never quite the mastermind everyone claimed he was. That was why he could never have been Keyser Söze. 

And McManus ... McManus was the asshole you rooted for on a bad day. He was rage incarnate.

But Hockney ... maybe it was the character, maybe it was the actor, but there was something friendly about him with his cap and his smile, his scruffy beard and his foul mouth, driving here, there, and everywhere. It doesn't matter how many times she watches the scene where he gets shot, he's the one she wants to save. 

Bang!

Conduits fall from the ceiling. Shepard dodges up the stairs and stands alone on the deck of the SSV Normandy. The top has been cut away, providing a clear view of stars in the sky. The only sound is her breathing. Wreckage and bodies float around her.

And in the distance is a voice. "Come on, baby. Hold together."  
She approaches the cockpit and the last man at his post. "Come on, Joker! We have to get out of here!"

"No!" The pilot protests. "I won't abandon the Normandy! I can still save her!"

Shepard wraps an arm around his shoulders, knowing he would never be able to save himself. "The Normandy's lost. Going down with the ship won't change that."

A look of sorrow crosses his bearded face. "Yeah, okay. Help me up." As she reaches down for him, alarms go off. "They're coming around for another attack!"

A laser cuts through the bridge. She lifts him up despite his grunts of pain, trying to get them to an escape pod before they're cut off. 

She gets him into a seat just as the final bit of life support cuts out and the vacuum of space drags her away.

"Commander!" Joker reaches out for her, but it's too late. She hits the button to launch the pod as one of her closest friends disappears beyond the light.

It's over now. 

She saved him.

A piece of debris slashes through the feed line from her oxygen tank. She struggles to cover the hole as her life seeps away. She thought she had a starring role in the story of life, but it turns out that in the fight against intergalactic monsters, she's Fenster, the cautionary tale to keep the others moving.

She thinks of Joker's smile and the wrath of a pilot with a good ship.

It's worth it.

As she loses consciousness, the story spirals around again.

#

Dr. Nef taps her stylus against her datapad. "Why do you think Verbal Kint is the only one who could?"

"Because he was there. He tested his will against them all, and he was stronger. He convinced them to stay together against all odds. He completed the jewelry job when Keaton doubted. He kept them moving and together. 'The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.' The girl's amber eyes are flecked with red in the light of the screen. "He convinced them all that he wasn't a threat even when he was. He hid in plain sight. Doesn't everyone see that?"

"No, child. Not everyone." Dr. Nef stares at the datapad. Shepard has everything Project Persephone is looking for: Health, intelligence, intuition, a family dedicated to service...  
**Rejected.**

She gives the child the remote with a smile. "You can watch the end now."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my _The Usual Suspects_ story:
> 
> When I was in college, Roomie and her guy friend came to my room and asked if I wanted to watch a movie with them. My homework was done, so I said yes.
> 
> When the movie wrapped back around to the beginning again, the guy stopped the movie and asked us who did it. Roomie said she didn't know. Without hesitation, I said Verbal Kint. Suddenly fascinated, guy asked me why I thought it was him and I told him that it was the only person who made sense. Apparently my superpower is to solve mindscrews.
> 
> Guy and I ended up dating for 5 years after that. Lest you think poorly of my ex for the test, it turned out _The Usual Suspects_ was his BFF's favorite film and his BFF had tragically died in a car accident only 4 months prior. Guy was shy and had been interested in me for a while. Me getting the movie was kind of like getting his BFF's approval and encouragement.
> 
> So I'm not sure I can put what this film means to me into words because the feelings are complicated. But because of those feelings, not even the recent scandals can displace it.


End file.
